Upstairs, Downstairs!!! Cash only!! (Wong Kei)

Member Name: MrsLim

Product:	Wong Kei
Date:	18/06/09 (484 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, fast, great food, huge portions

Disadvantages: Super fast food, sharing tables

I want to give a Chinese perspective to this great Chinatown institution.

Being a BBC (British Born Chinese), I grew up with this place. My family absolutely adores Wong Kei and you'll find that, a bit like that "you're 7 people away from knowing a famous person" saying, a Chinese person is related to Wong Kei in some way or another. For example, my dad worked as a waiter during one summer holiday in the 1980s whilst he was studying at uni, my mum, to her horror, bumped into an ex-boyfriend which she had ditched in her hippy heydays one pre-theatre dinner, and finally, I myself was caught with my boyfriend-now-husband by my uncle when I should have been revising for my A-Levels - yes, it is a great Chinese institution!

The Restaurant

The restaurant is located on Wardour Street, in the heart of Chinatown, London. By the looks of things, it's been there for decades. It recently went through a re-furb - I've noticed the walls have a new coat of paint, the staff have new uniforms and the table cloths replaced.

The restaurant now plays on it's "Upstairs, Downstairs" image. The saying comes from how the waiters greet you. Upon entering the flappy doors at the front, you are greeted with "how many?". You can then stick as many fingers as you like to indicate the number of your party. Table of ones stay downstairs at the front, twos or more are ushered upstairs up to any of the two other floors (hence the "upstairs, go upstairs") and when it's really busy, twos or more are ushered downstairs (hence the "downstairs, go downstairs").

Word of warning, this restaurant operates a table share scheme, a VERY intimate table share scheme. There are tables of 10+ on each floor and you are required to sit next to strangers. You can choose to make friends if you like or just plain ignore them. The customers range from students looking for a quirky cheap meal, tourists who stumbled into the wrong restaurant and look absolutely horrified, patrons and the remaining are ones have heard about the reputation of Wong Kei and want to be horrified!

Super Fast Food

This is Chinese fast food at its best. It's so fast, the dishes and cups are all plastic because the kitchen staff slaps on the grub on the plate, the waiting staff slams down the plate in front of you, the empty plate is grabbed off the table when you're done and thrown in the sink for washing! It would simple be chaos if they had breakable plates!

You can order the "normal" takeaway specialities - i.e. aromatic duck, sweet and sour pork etc. However, the Chinese come here for their rice and noodle dishes because there is no where in Chinatown or the whole of London that serves rice and noodle dishes this good at such a price!

Personal all time greats are the noodle soups (both egg noodle and rice ho fun noodles) with wonton, char sui, roast duck and soy chicken and plain rice with meat, again with char sui, roast duck and soy chicken. Slap on some oyster sauce greens on the side and you have a meal for two! All great and authentic Hong Kong Chinese cuisine!

Portions are HUGE! My husband has past his allergy of sitting next to strangers and being greeted by irate and abrupt waiting staff at this place because he's fallen in love with the portion sizes and the price!

Price and Payment

This is the best bit! A meal for two rarely goes anywhere near £20 - we're talking about £12 or so! It's absolutely brilliant! You'll be laughing all the way home with your full to bursting bellies! HOWEVER, one word of warning, Wong Kei only accepts cash so make sure you have enough on you.

Overall:

What can I say? Want a cheap and cheerful place to eat, than Wong Kei is your best bet. Want to woo a girl, give this one a miss!

----Updated
Aah, forgot to add! Re: staff

The staff are only Chinese rude in that our culture and language dictates that we act a certain way which seems rude to the western crowd. I'm completely use to this but it is far to say that it can be a bit disconcerting. Try and ignore it, act Chinese and you'll be fine!

There is also a misconception that the Wong Kei staff is probably on minimum wage and that's why they are rude. I have first hand knowledge that the staff at Wong Kei's are actually paid really well - one of the best in Chinatown in fact! The chefs earn quite a bit more than your bog-standard takeaway cooks and the waiting staff are also paid a high wage.

You'll also notice that all the waiting staff are men (I think there is one woman on the second floor and she washes the cups?). There is a reason for this. Not to sound sexist and I'm sure Wong Kei doesn't set out to employ just men, working in Wong Kei is super hard work and requires a lot of stamina. It also requires plate juggling of about 10 dishes at once whilst serving about 10 different tables at once. I think the sheer madness and chaos of it all is more appealing to men who want to prove that they are strong (grww!) and can handle the pressure!

Summary: Great food, excellent price but prepare for some super fast eating!